More Than A God (IV)

IX

"What if I create some sort of clone?" He wondered.

As he said this, he noticed something happening on the floor. Eli's shadow wasn't moving according to his movements. Something about it was wrong, but he didn't really think it deeply. Instead, he took advantage of the situation and tried to fight against it.

"How convenient... Come at me, shadow!" Eli screamed.

The shadow rose from the floor and gained a full dark body. It also created a sword, and he rushed towards Eli. The shadow tried to land a hit, but Eli easily blocked it and attacked back. He was fresh from all the training he had done, and losing wasn't an option. It was an intense sequence of blocks and dodges, and Eli slowly started to get tired. He swung a few more times, and then he retreated.

"That was pretty cool... I think I need a break though." He said.

Just as he was sighing from his exhaustion, he saw something approaching. It was the shadow, and based on how quickly it was running it seemed like its intentions weren't really good. Luckily, Eli quickly reacted and moved away to avoid a swing that was directly aimed for his head.

"What the-!?" He thought as he freaked out. "It should be gone by now! It's under my control, right!?"

The shadow rushed yet another time, and Eli had no choice but to continue the fight. He was getting tired yet again, and the shadow showed no sings of fatigue. It didn't look good for Eli, until he had the realization.

"Wait a minute... A shadow is dark! I can't control darkness!" Eli said as all the dots connected in his head.

With the last force he had, he threw some potent swings against the shadow and eventually got a hit on it. Despite it just being a silhouette, there was a scream of pain. The voice was recognizable to Eli's ears, and he figured it out.

"IT'S YOU AGAIN!? I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE ME ALONE!" 

His eyes started glowing from pure rage. Just to think she tried to kill him while going incognito was disgusting for Eli, and he was going to make her pay for it. Even though he was tired, he grabbed his sword again and entered the fight for what he planned to be the last time.

"There's no point in hiding anymore, Mara! Get rid of my shadow already!" He screamed as he slowly started to earn confidence.

Surprisingly, Mara listened. Eli wasn't fighting against his own shadow anymore, but against who had been his true nemesis since he became a god. Only seeing her made his blood boil, and he felt a strange yet familiar power flow through his body. It was time to use it again. The blue fire had returned to his aid.

"You're going to regret trying to kill me..." Eli said as his eyes glowed blue.

"We'll see about that..." Mara said.

Mara only caught a smirk and lifted her arms, not moving from her position. Eli felt like it was some sort of trap, but he still tried to attack. Just as he was about to land a powerful hit, he saw she was holding an orb. It looked like no other, with light and darkness swirling inside of it. He somehow felt afraid to break it, and he thought it would unleash something horrific. And with that in mind, he quickly directed the hit to the floor. Mara, with a smirk in her face, chuckled a little as if she knew this would happen.

"What is that thing? Tell me now!" Eli said, angry over the fact that he let this chance go to waste.

"If you broke it you would know by now..." Mara said.

Eli was confused, trying to understand what this was all really entailing. He put the sword back in its case, and he slowly approached his enemy.

"What do you mean...?" He asked.

"This orb, darling, is more important than you could ever imagine." She replied.

"How can I believe that, huh? I bet it's all just a trap!"

"This orb contains your memories, Eli..."

"Wait... WHAT!?"

He ran to give it a check, but he still held some distance from Mara. It seemed like nothing important was inside of the orb at first sight, but there was something about the way Mara said that which made Eli believe it. He was speechless, trying to comprehend how did the get a hold of this in the first place.

"H- How did you get this!?" He said, still really confused.

"I took it away from Diiran knowing you'd be interested." She said. "You could remember everything, Eli! You could understand why you're here. How you got here. What your purpose in Flockya is..."

Eli was tempted to see if all this was true, but there was something about the entire scenario that didn't let the dots connect to each other. Eli didn't plan on giving in so easily, even though deep inside he was desperate to learn the truth.

"Why do you want me to remember? Is my past so important?" He asked.

"I thought it would give your life here more sense, Eli. You always looked confused, trying to understand why you were given such an important role in this world. Maybe this could help you clear your mind. I'm just trying to help here..." She said.

Eli somehow started to gain trust towards her. Even though he didn't want to get any closer, he started to take small steps until he was right in front of her. He looked at the orb, and pulled his sword out to break it and unleash his memories. He looked at Mara dead in the eyes, and spoke.

"You better not be lying about this..."

"WAIT! ELI, DON'T DO IT!"

Eli looked to his right, and we saw Iris rushing towards him. She pushed him aside, making him miss the hit that was aimed for the orb. Mara's poker face turned into an expression full of anger, and she planned on making Iris pay for what she had done.

"AGH! IT'S ALWAYS YOU THAT COMES AND RUINS EVERYTHING!" Mara screamed.

She rushed towards Iris, completely ignoring Eli in the process. Iris quickly grabbed Eli's sword from his case and landed hits on Mara. Soon enough, she blew Mara away with her wind powers as far as she could, giving her enough time to escape with Eli.

"What was that for!? I was about to remember everything!" Eli screamed

"I know you're not ready for that! I don't want you to go through what I did!" Iris yelled back.

"Wait... She did the same to you!?"

"I'll explain it all later! We need to get out of here!"

Eli threw his necklace as far as he could, and they teleported away without leaving a trail behind them. Mara had lost them, but there was something that she still possessed: the orb. She gently picked it up and started walking away.

"Oh, I'll make you remember everything..." She said as she laughed menacingly.